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Questions Asked on the 1900 Census

US 1900 Census Download

 

  • LOCATION
    • IN CITIES
      • Blank Column # Street.
      • Blank Column # House Number.
      • Column 1: Number of dwelling house in the order of visitation.
      • Column 2: Number of family in the order of visitation.
  • NAME
    • of each person whose place of abode on June 1, 1900, was in this family.
    • Enter surname first, then the given name and middle initial if any.
    • Include every person living on June 1, 1900.
    • Omit children born since June 1, 1900.
      • Column 3: NAME.
  • RELATION
    •   
      • Column 4: Relationship of each person to the head of the family
  • PERSONAL DESCRIPTION
    •   
      • Column 5: Color or race.
      • Column 6: Sex.
    • DATE OF BIRTH
      • Column 7: Month | Year
      • Column 8: Age at last birthday
      • Column 9: Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced
      • Column 10: Number of years of present marriage
      • Column 11: Mother of how many children
      • Column 12: Number of these children living
  • NATIVITY
    • Place of birth of each person and parents of each person enumerated.
    • If born in United States, give state or territory.
    • If foreign birth, give the country.
      • Column 13: Place of birth of this person
      • Column 14: Place of birth of Father of this person
      • Column 15: Place of birth of Mother of this person
  • CITIZENSHIP
    •   
      • Column 16: Year of immigration to the U.S.
      • Column 17: Number of years in the U.S.
      • Column 18: Naturalization
  • OCCUPATION, TRACE, OR PROFESSION
    • of each person TEN YEARS of age and over
      • Column 19: Occupation
      • Column 20: Months not employed
  • EDUCATION
    •   
      • Column 21: Attended school (in months)
      • Column 22: Can read
      • Column 23: Can write
      • Column 24: Can speak English
  • OWNERSHIP OF HOME
    •   
      • Column 25: Owned or Rented
      • Column 26: Owned free or mortgaged
      • Column 27: Farm or house
      • Column 28: Number of farm schedule

Census Tip: The 1900 census provided columns for the month and year of birth for EVERY PERSON. This is the only census which provides this information, allowing researchers to more closely pinpoint the age and birth date of their ancestors.

Another great clue in the 1900 census is the addition of questions about the number of years married and number of children born to a mother along with how many are still living. This will help you determine if a person has been married before, a second wife, a second husband, and very importantly if the children listed in the household are all the children of the wife shown.

If you are researching an immigrant ancestor in the 1900 time period, you will be able to see the year of immigration and information about naturalization, making it easier to gather records about these individuals.

Soundex: The 1900 census has been "soundexed". The soundexing system uses a numbering system for letters allowing a name to be indexed by the way it sounds, rather than the way it is spelled. The census was indexed by Soundex code on index cards which in turn have been recorded on microfilm which is housed at NARA, the LDS Library in Salt Lake City and various libraries. Each index card lists all family members making it easier to find someone in the 1900 census records.

 

 

 

1900

For 1900, the Census Office dropped the "family questionnaire" form style and reverted to filling entire sheets of information on residents. The informations gathered by enumerators for the 1900 census, organized by column, is:

General Population Schedule

  1. Number of dwelling home in order of visitation by enumerator
  2. Number of family in order of visitation by enumerator
  3. Name
  4. Relation to head of the family
  5. Color or Race

    Enumerators were to mark "W" for White, "B" for Black, "Ch" for Chinese, "Jp" for Japanese, or "In" for American Indian.
  6. Sex
  7. Date of Birth
  8. Age
  9. Was the person single, married, widowed, or divorced?
  10. How many years has the person been married?
  11. For mothers, how many children has the person had?
  12. How many of those children are living?
  13. What was the person's place of birth?
  14. What was the person's father's place of birth?
  15. What was the person's mother's place of birth?
  16. What year did the person immigrate to the United States?
  17. How many years has the person been in the United States?
  18. Is the person naturalized?
  19. Occupation, trade, or profession
  20. How many months has the person not been employed in the past year?
  21. How many months did the person attend school in the past year?
  22. Can the person read?
  23. Can the person write?
  24. Can the person speak English?
  25. Is the person's home owned or rented?
  26. If it is owned, is the person's home owned free or mortgaged?
  27. Does the person live in a farm or in a house?
  28. If a person lived on a farm, the enumerator was to write that farm's identification number on its corresponding agricultural questionnaire in this column

Indian Population Schedule

Enumerators were instructed to use a special expanded questionnaire for American Indians living on reservations or in family groups off of reservations. The first 28 questions on the schedule are nearly identical to those asked to the general population. The only difference is that enumerators were instructed to mark "Ration Indian" in the occupation column for those American Indians who were wholly dependent on government aid for support. Enumerators were to mark "R" next to the occupation of those who were partly dependent on government aid. The following additional information, listed by column number, was collected from persons listed on the Indian population schedule:

  1. Indian Name
  2. Tribe of this person
  3. Tribe of this person's father
  4. Tribe of this person's mother
  5. Fraction of person's lineage that is white
  6. Is this person living in polygamy?
  7. Is this person taxed?

    An American Indian was considered "taxed" if he or she was detached from his or her tribe and was living in the White community and subject to general taxation, or had been alloted land by the federal government and thus acquired citizenship.
  8. If this person has acquired American citizenship, what year?
  9. Did this person acquire citizenship by receiving an allotment of land from the federal government?
  10. Is this person's house "movable" or "fixed?"

    Enumerators were to mark "movable" if the person lived in a tent, tepee, or other temporary structure; they were to mark "fixed" if he or she lived in a permanent dwelling of any kind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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